Abstract
Introduction: This study examined the attitudes and perceptions of family medicine educators with regards to COVID-19’s impact on both career thinking and work intentions.
Methods: We surveyed 949 Family Medicine educators and practicing physicians as part of the 2021 Council of Academic Family Medicine’s (CAFM) Educational Research Alliance (CERA) survey.
Results: Changes in thinking about their nonwork lives (P < .001, OR = 2.82), changes in life priorities (P < .001, OR = 2.07), along with recent changes to the educator job that are perceived as less enjoyable (P < .001, OR = 1.31), are associated with career thinking changes. Perception of being treated fairly (P = .002, OR = 0.83), changes in thinking about nonwork lives (P = .003, OR = 1.29), changes in life priorities (P < .001, OR = 1.65), and recent less enjoyable changes to the educator job (P < .001, OR = 1.26), are associated with an intent to reduce work hours. Perception of being treated fairly (P < .001, OR = 0.81), changes in life priorities (P < .001, OR = 1.31), recent work changes that are less enjoyable (P < .001, OR = 1.38), and workload increases (P = .02, OR = 0.87), are associated with increased thoughts of doing something different in 5 years. Older participants were more likely to intent to reduce hours (P < .001, OR = 1.05) and have increased thoughts of doing something different in 5 years (P < .001, OR = 1.04). Meanwhile, women were more likely to experience career thinking changes (P = .02, OR = 1.42).
Discussion: Our findings suggest that the career thinking and work intentions of family medicine educators have been greatly impacted by the pandemic. There may be consequences for how they think about and approach their careers and jobs in the future. Additional research is needed to determine what these actual consequences mean. In addition, employers should carefully assess these types of changes, identify which educator subgroups they may affect the most, and act accordingly, particularly in areas like recruitment and retention.
